Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition

Blow

Blow

(blō)
,
Verb.
I.
[
imp.
Blew
(blū)
;
p. p.
Blown
(blōn)
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Blowing
.]
[OE.
blowen
, AS.
blōwan
to blossom; akin to OS.
blōjan
, D.
bloeijen
, OHG.
pluojan
, MHG.
blüejen
, G.
blühen
, L.
florere
to flourish, OIr.
blath
blossom. Cf.
Blow
to puff,
Flourish
.]
To flower; to blossom; to bloom.
How
blows
the citron grove.
Milton.

Blow

,
Verb.
T.
To cause to blossom; to put forth (blossoms or flowers).
The odorous banks, that
blow

Flowers of more mingled hue.
Milton.

Blow

,
Noun.
(Bot.)
A blossom; a flower; also, a state of blossoming; a mass of blossoms.
“Such a blow of tulips.”
Tatler.

Blow

,
Noun.
[OE.
blaw
,
blowe
; cf. OHG.
bliuwan
,
pliuwan
, to beat, G.
bläuen
, Goth.
bliggwan
.]
1.
A forcible stroke with the hand, fist, or some instrument, as a rod, a club, an ax, or a sword.
Well struck ! there was
blow
for
blow
.
Shakespeare
2.
A sudden or forcible act or effort; an assault.
A vigorous
blow
might win [Hanno’s camp].
T. Arnold.
3.
The infliction of evil; a sudden calamity; something which produces mental, physical, or financial suffering or loss (esp. when sudden); a buffet.
A most poor man, made tame to fortune's
blows
.
Shakespeare
At a blow
,
suddenly; at one effort; by a single vigorous act.
“They lose a province at a blow.”
Dryden.
–
To come to blows
,
to engage in combat; to fight; – said of individuals, armies, and nations.
Syn. – Stroke; knock; shock; misfortune.

Blow

,
Verb.
I.
[
imp.
Blew
(blū)
;
p. p.
Blown
(blōn)
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Blowing
.]
[OE.
blawen
,
blowen
, AS.
blāwan
to blow, as wind; akin to OHG.
plājan
, G.
blähen
, to blow up, swell, L.
flare
to blow, Gr.
ἐκφλαίνειν
to spout out, and to E.
bladder
,
blast
,
inflate
, etc., and perh.
blow
to bloom.]
1.
To produce a current of air; to move, as air, esp. to move rapidly or with power;
as, the wind
blows
.
Hark how it rains and
blows
!
Walton.
2.
To send forth a forcible current of air, as from the mouth or from a pair of bellows.
3.
To breathe hard or quick; to pant; to puff.
Here is Mistress Page at the door, sweating and
blowing
.
Shakespeare
4.
To sound on being blown into, as a trumpet.
There let the pealing organ
blow
.
Milton.
5.
To spout water, etc., from the blowholes, as a whale.
6.
To be carried or moved by the wind;
as, the dust
blows
in from the street
.
The grass
blows
from their graves to thy own.
M. Arnold.
7.
To talk loudly; to boast; to storm.
[Colloq.]
You
blow
behind my back, but dare not say anything to my face.
Bartlett.
To blow hot and cold
(a saying derived from a fable of Æsop's)
,
to favor a thing at one time and treat it coldly at another; or to appear both to favor and to oppose.
–
To blow off
,
to let steam escape through a passage provided for the purpose; as, the engine or steamer is blowing off.
–
To blow out
.
(a)
To be driven out by the expansive force of a gas or vapor;
as, a steam cock or valve sometimes
blows out
.
(b)
To talk violently or abusively.
[Low]
–
To blow over
,
to pass away without effect; to cease, or be dissipated;
as, the storm and the clouds have
blown over
.
–
To blow up
,
to be torn to pieces and thrown into the air as by an explosion of powder or gas or the expansive force of steam; to burst; to explode; as, a powder mill or steam boiler blows up.
“The enemy's magazines blew up.”
Tatler.

Blow

,
Verb.
T.
1.
To force a current of air upon with the mouth, or by other means;
as, to
blow
the fire
.
2.
To drive by a current air; to impel;
as, the tempest
blew
the ship ashore
.
Off at sea northeast winds
blow

Sabean odors from the spicy shore.
Milton.
3.
To cause air to pass through by the action of the mouth, or otherwise; to cause to sound, as a wind instrument;
as, to
blow
a trumpet; to
blow
an organ; to
blow
a horn
.
Hath she no husband
That will take pains to
blow
a horn before her?
Shakespeare
Boy,
blow
the pipe until the bubble rise,
Then cast it off to float upon the skies.
Parnell.
4.
To clear of contents by forcing air through;
as, to
blow
an egg; to
blow
one's nose
.
5.
To burst, shatter, or destroy by an explosion; – usually with up, down, open, or similar adverb;
as, to
blow
up a building
.
6.
To spread by report; to publish; to disclose; to reveal, intentionally or inadvertently;
as, to
blow
an agent's cover
.
Through the court his courtesy was
blown
.
Dryden.
His language does his knowledge
blow
.
Whiting.
7.
To form by inflation; to swell by injecting air;
as, to
blow
bubbles; to
blow
glass
.
8.
To inflate, as with pride; to puff up.
Look how imagination
blows
him.
Shakespeare
9.
To put out of breath; to cause to blow from fatigue;
as, to
blow
a horse
.
Sir W. Scott.
10.
To deposit eggs or larvæ upon, or in (meat, etc.).
To suffer
The flesh fly
blow
my mouth.
Shakespeare
To blow great guns
,
to blow furiously and with roaring blasts; – said of the wind at sea or along the coast.
–
To blow off
,
to empty (a boiler) of water through the blow-off pipe, while under steam pressure; also, to eject (steam, water, sediment, etc.) from a boiler.
–
To blow one's own trumpet
,
to vaunt one's own exploits, or sound one's own praises.
–
To blow out
,
to extinguish by a current of air, as a candle.
–
To blow up
.
(a)
To fill with air; to swell; as, to blow up a bladder or bubble.
(b)
To inflate, as with pride, self-conceit, etc.; to puff up;
as, to
blow
one
up
with flattery
.
“Blown up with high conceits engendering pride.”
Milton.
(c)
To excite;
as, to
blow up
a contention
.
(d)
To burst, to raise into the air, or to scatter, by an explosion;
as, to
blow up
a fort
.
(e)
To scold violently; as, to blow up a person for some offense.
[Colloq.]

I have
blown
him
up
well – nobody can say I wink at what he does.
G. Eliot.
–
To blow upon
.
(a)
To blast; to taint; to bring into discredit; to render stale, unsavory, or worthless.
(b)
To inform against.
[Colloq.]
How far the very custom of hearing anything spouted withers and
blows upon
a fine passage, may be seen in those speeches from [Shakespeare's] Henry V. which are current in the mouths of schoolboys.
C. Lamb.
A lady's maid whose character had been
blown upon
.
Macaulay.

Blow

,
Noun.
1.
A blowing, esp., a violent blowing of the wind; a gale;
as, a heavy
blow
came on, and the ship put back to port
.
2.
The act of forcing air from the mouth, or through or from some instrument;
as, to give a hard
blow
on a whistle or horn; to give the fire a
blow
with the bellows
.
3.
The spouting of a whale.
4.
(Metal.)
A single heat or operation of the Bessemer converter.
Raymond.
5.
An egg, or a larva, deposited by a fly on or in flesh, or the act of depositing it.
Chapman.

Webster 1828 Edition

Blow

BLOW

,
Noun.
[This probably is a contracted word, and the primary sense must be, to strike, thrust, push, or throw, that is, to drive. I have not found it in the cognate dialects. If g or other palatal letter is lost, it corresponds in elements with the L.plaga
fligo; Eng.flog.]
1.
The act of striking; more generally the stroke; a violent application of the hand, fist, or an instrument to an object.
2.
The fatal stroke; a stroke that kills; hence, death.
3.
An act of hostility; as, the nation which strikes the first blow. Hence, to come to blows, is to engage in combat, whether by individuals, armies, fleets or nations; and when by nations, it is war.
4.
A sudden calamity; a sudden or severe evil. In like manner, plaga in Latin gives rise to the Eng. plague.
5.
A single act; a sudden event; as, to gain or lose a province at a blow, or by one blow.
At a stroke is used in like manner.
6.
An ovum or egg deposited by a fly, on flesh or other substance, called a fly-blow.

BLOW

,
Verb.
T.
pret. blew; pp.blown. [L.flo, to blow. This word probably is from the same root as bloom, blossom, blow, a flower.]
1.
To make a current of air; to move as air; as, the wind blows. Often used with it; as, it blows a gale.
2.
To pant; to puff; to breathe hard or quick.
Here is Mrs. Page at the door, sweating and blowing.
3.
To breathe; as, to blow hot and cold.
4.
To sound with being blown, as a horn or trumpet.
5.
To flower; to blossom; to bloom; as plants.
How blows the citron grove.
To blow over, to pass away without effect;to cease or be dissipated; as, the storm or the clouds are blown over.
To blow up, to rise in the air; also, to be broken and scattered by the explosion of gunpowder.

BLOW

,
Verb.
T.
To throw or drive a current of air upon; as, to blow the fire; also, to fan.
1.
To drive by a current of air; to impel; as, the tempest blew the ship ashore.
2.
To breathe upon, for the purpose of warming; as, to blow the fingers in a cold day.
3.
To sound a wind instrument; as, blow the trumpet.
4.
To spread by report.
And through the court his courtesy was blown.
5.
To deposit eggs, as flies.
6.
To form bubbles by blowing.
7.
To swell and inflate, as veal; a practice of butchers.
8.
To form glass into a particular shape by the breath, as in glass manufactories.
9.
To melt tin, after being first burnt to destroy the mundic.
To blow away, to dissipate; to scatter with wind.
To blow down, to prostrate by wind.
To blow off, to shave down by wind, as to blow off fruit from trees; to drive from land, as to blow off a ship.
To blow out, to extinguish by a current of air, as a candle.
To blow up,to fill with air; to swell; as, to blow up a bladder or a bubble.
10. To inflate; to puff up; as, to blow up one with flattery.
11. To kindle; as, to blow up a contention.
12. To burst, to raise into the air,or to scatter, by the explosion of gunpowder. Figuratively, to scatter or bring to naught suddenly; as, to blow up a scheme.
To blow upon, to make stale; as, to blow upon an author's works.

BLOW

,
Noun.
A flower; a blossom. This word is in general use in the U. States, and legitimate. In the Tatler, it is used for blossoms in general, as we use blowth.
1.
Among seamen, a gale of wind. This also is a legitimate word, in general use in the U. States.

Definition 2024

blow

blow

See also: b'low

English

Adjective

blow ‎(comparative blower or more blow, superlative blowest or most blow)

  1. (now chiefly dialectal, Northern England) Blue.

Etymology 2

From Middle English blowen, from Old English blāwan ‎(“to blow, breathe, inflate, sound”), from Proto-Germanic *blēaną ‎(“to blow”) (compare German blähen), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₁- ‎(“to swell, blow up”) (compare Latin flō ‎(“to blow”), Old Armenian բեղուն ‎(bełun, “fertile”), Albanian plas ‎(“to blow, explode”)).

Verb

blow ‎(third-person singular simple present blows, present participle blowing, simple past blew, past participle blown)

  1. (intransitive) To produce an air current.
    • 1606, William Shakespeare, King Lear, act 3, sc. 2:
      "Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks! rage! blow!"
    • Walton
      Hark how it rains and blows!
  2. (transitive) To propel by an air current.
    Blow the dust off that book and open it up.
  3. (intransitive) To be propelled by an air current.
    The leaves blow through the streets in the fall.
  4. (transitive) To create or shape by blowing; as in to blow bubbles, to blow glass.
  5. To force a current of air upon with the mouth, or by other means.
    to blow the fire
  6. To clear of contents by forcing air through.
    to blow an egg
    to blow one's nose
  7. (transitive) To cause to make sound by blowing, as a musical instrument.
  8. (intransitive) To make a sound as the result of being blown.
    In the harbor, the ships' horns blew.
    • Milton
      There let the pealing organ blow.
  9. (intransitive, of a cetacean) To exhale visibly through the spout the seawater which it has taken in while feeding.
    There's nothing more thrilling to the whale watcher than to see a whale surface and blow.
    There she blows! (i.e. "I see a whale spouting!")
  10. (intransitive) To explode.
    Get away from that burning gas tank! It's about to blow!
  11. (transitive, with "up" or with prep phrase headed by "to") To cause to explode, shatter, or be utterly destroyed.
    The demolition squad neatly blew the old hotel up.
    The aerosol can was blown to bits.
  12. (transitive) To cause sudden destruction of.
    He blew the tires and the engine.
  13. (intransitive) To suddenly fail destructively.
    He tried to sprint, but his ligaments blew and he was barely able to walk to the finish line.
  14. (intransitive, slang) To be very undesirable (see also suck).
    This blows!
  15. (transitive, slang) To recklessly squander.
    I managed to blow $1000 at blackjack in under an hour.
    I blew $35 thou on a car.
    We blew an opportunity to get benign corporate sponsorship.
  16. (transitive, vulgar) To fellate.
    Who did you have to blow to get those backstage passes?
  17. (transitive) To leave.
    Let's blow this joint.
  18. To make flyblown, to defile, especially with fly eggs.
    • 1606, William Shakespeare, Antony and Cleopatra, Act V, scene 2, line 55.
      Shall they hoist me up,
      And show me to the shouting varletry
      Of censuring Rome? Rather a ditch in Egypt
      Be gentle grave unto me, rather on Nilus' mud
      Lay me stark naked, and let the water-flies
      Blow me into abhorring!
    • 1610, The Tempest, by Shakespeare, act 3 scene 1
      (FERDINAND)
      I am, in my condition,
      A prince, Miranda; I do think, a king;—
      I would not so!—and would no more endure
      This wooden slavery than to suffer
      The flesh-fly blow my mouth.
  19. (obsolete) To spread by report; to publish; to disclose.
    • Dryden
      Through the court his courtesy was blown.
    • Whiting
      His language does his knowledge blow.
  20. (obsolete) To inflate, as with pride; to puff up.
    • Shakespeare
      Look how imagination blows him.
  21. (intransitive) To breathe hard or quick; to pant; to puff.
    • Shakespeare
      Here is Mistress Page at the door, sweating and blowing.
  22. (transitive) To put out of breath; to cause to blow from fatigue.
    to blow a horse
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Sir Walter Scott to this entry?)
  23. (obsolete) To talk loudly; to boast; to storm.
    • Bartlett
      You blow behind my back, but dare not say anything to my face.
  24. (slang, informal, African American Vernacular) To sing
    That girl has a wonderful voice; just listen to her blow!
Derived terms
Translations

Noun

blow ‎(plural blows)

  1. A strong wind.
    We're having a bit of a blow this afternoon.
  2. (informal) A chance to catch one’s breath.
    The players were able to get a blow during the last timeout.
  3. (uncountable, US, slang) Cocaine.
  4. (uncountable, Britain, slang) Cannabis.
  5. (uncountable, US Chicago Regional, slang) Heroin.
Translations

Etymology 3

Middle English blowe, blaw, northern variant of blēwe, from Proto-Germanic *blewwaną ‎(“to beat”) (compare Old Norse blegði ‎(“wedge”), German bläuen, Middle Dutch blouwen). Related to block.

Noun

blow ‎(plural blows)

  1. The act of striking or hitting.
    A fabricator is used to direct a sharp blow to the surface of the stone.
    During an exchange to end round 13, Duran landed a blow to the midsection.
  2. A sudden or forcible act or effort; an assault.
    • T. Arnold
      A vigorous blow might win [Hanno's camp].
  3. A damaging occurrence.
    A further blow to the group came in 1917 when Thomson died while canoeing in Algonquin Park.
    • Shakespeare
      a most poor man, made tame to fortune's blows
    • 2011 April 15, Saj Chowdhury, “Norwich 2 - 1 Nott'm Forest”, in BBC Sport:
      Norwich returned to second in the Championship with victory over Nottingham Forest, whose promotion hopes were dealt another blow.
Synonyms
Derived terms
Translations

Etymology 4

Middle English blowen, from Old English blōwan, from Proto-Germanic *blōaną (compare Dutch bloeien, German blühen), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₃- (compare Latin florēre 'to bloom').

Verb

blow ‎(third-person singular simple present blows, present participle blowing, simple past blew, past participle blown)

  1. To blossom; to cause to bloom or blossom.
    • 1599, William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing, Act 4 Scene 1
      You seem to me as Dian in her orb,
      As chaste as is the bud ere it be blown;
    • 1667, John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book 5
      How blows the citron grove.
    • 1784, William Cowper, Tirocinium; or, A Review of Schools
      Boys are at best but pretty buds unblown,
      Whose scent and hues are rather guessed than known;
    • 2015 January 26, Mark Diacono, “How to grow and cook cauliflower, 2015's trendiest veg: Tricky to grow, boring to boil ... so why is the outmoded cauliflower back at the culinary cutting edge? [print version: Cauliflower power, 24 January 2015, p. G3]”, in The Daily Telegraph (Gardening):
      Romanesco is slow to blow and more forgiving to grow than most cauliflowers, while being perhaps the most delicious and certainly the nuttiest-flavoured of the lot.
Related terms
Translations

Noun

blow ‎(plural blows)

  1. A mass or display of flowers; a yield.
    • (Can we date this quote?) Tatler:
      Such a blow of tulips.
  2. A display of anything brilliant or bright.
  3. A bloom, state of flowering.
    roses in full blow.
Related terms
Translations

Anagrams

Etymology

From Middle English blo, bloo, from Old English blāw ‎(“blue”), from Proto-Germanic *blēwaz ‎(“blue, dark blue, grey, black”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰlēw- ‎(“yellow, blond, grey”). Cognate with Latin flavus ‎(“yellow”). More at blue.

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /bləʊ/, [bləʊ̯]
  • (US) IPA(key): /bloʊ/, [bloʊ̯]
  • Rhymes: -əʊ

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